Court supports laws banning straw purchases

Staff and wire reports

Updated 11:16 pm, Monday, June 16, 2014

WASHINGTON -- A divided Supreme Court sided with gun control groups and the Obama administration Monday, ruling that the federal government can strictly enforce laws that ban a "straw" purchaser from buying a gun for someone else.

The justices ruled 5-4 that the law applied to a Virginia man who bought a gun with the intention of transferring it to his uncle in Pennsylvania -- even though the uncle is not prohibited from owning firearms.

The decision split the court along familiar ideological lines, although it has no direct bearing on the Second Amendment right to own guns. It settles a split among appeals courts over federal gun laws intended to prevent sham buyers from obtaining guns for the sole purpose of giving them to another person. The laws were part of Congress' effort to make sure firearms did not get into the hands of unlawful recipients.

"Great ruling. I think in many ways, it's even unanticipated," Malloy told reporters after speaking to statewide union leaders in New Haven.

"Clearly, Justice (Anthony) Kennedy has had enough of mass murder in the United States and understands that reasonable steps taken by states or the federal government in this case, to protect people -- including making sure that you don't go out and buy a gun for somebody else; that you don't fill out a form that says you're buying it for yourself and that you're not buying it for somebody else, even though you've received a $400 check before you made the purchase from that person -- that's a violation of the law of the federal government. And the decision was the right decision."

Justice Elena Kagan, writing for the majority, said the federal government's elaborate system of background checks and record-keeping requirements help law enforcement investigate crimes by tracing guns to their buyers. Those provisions would mean little, she said, if a would-be gun buyer could evade them by simply getting another person to buy the gun and fill out the paperwork.

"Putting true numbskulls to one side, anyone purchasing a gun for criminal purposes would avoid leaving a paper trail by the simple expedient of hiring a straw," Kagan said.

The case began after Bruce James Abramski, Jr. bought a Glock 19 handgun in Collinsville, Va., in 2009, and later transferred it to his uncle in Easton, Pa. Abramski, a former police officer, had assured the Virginia dealer he was the "actual buyer" of the weapon even though he had already offered to buy the gun for his uncle using his expired police identification to get a discount.